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Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 09/16/2005

This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library, reporting a selection of recently published titles we have acquired. Our pledge is to keep the bulletin relevant to your work and brief -- no more than 10 titles. You are welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more information on any of the articles listed here.

Titles here, abstracts below them:

Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens. September 2005
Argonne Researchers Create New Diamond-Nanotube Composite Material. 2005
EPA Unions Call for Nationwide Moratorium on Fluoridation. 2005
Numerous Federal Activities Complement U.S. Business's Global Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts. August 2005
Optimizing Cleaning Energy in Batch and Inline Spraying Systems. June 2005
The introduction of MMT in South Africa: uncertainties associated with implementing the precautionary approach and the precautionary principle. 2004
Groups Say EPA's Use of Rodent Studies is 'Junk Science'. August 2005
Inexpensive oxidation catalyst could reduce diesel emissions. 2005
Environmental life-cycle impacts of CRT and LCD desktop computer displays. Fall 2005
DuPont Electronic Technologies: Expanding a Position in IC Materials. September 2005

1. Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens

AUTHOR Barton, Hugh A.; Cogliano, V. James; Flowers, Lynn; Valcovic, Larry; Setzer, R. Woodrow; Woodruff, Tracey J.

SOURCE Environmental Health Perspectives, v113 n9, September 2005, pp1125-1133

ABSTRACT Cancer risk assessment methods currently assume that children and adults are equally susceptible to exposure to chemicals. We reviewed available scientific literature to determine whether this was scientifically supported. We identified more than 50 chemicals causing cancer after perinatal exposure. Human data are extremely limited, with radiation exposures showing increased early susceptibility at some tumor sites. Twenty-seven rodent studies for 18 chemicals had sufficient data after postnatal and adult exposures to quantitatively estimate potential increased susceptibility from early-life exposure, calculated as the ratio of juvenile to adult cancer potencies for three study types: acute dosing, repeated dosing, and lifetime dosing. Twelve of the chemicals act through a mutagenic mode of action. For these, the geometric mean ratio was 11 for lifetime exposures and 8.7 for repeat exposures, with a ratio of 10 for these studies combined. The geometric mean ratio for acute studies is 1.5, which was influenced by tissue-specific results [geometric mean ratios for kidney, leukemia, liver, lymph, mammary, nerve, reticular tissue, thymic lymphoma, and uterus/vagina > 1 (range, 1.6-8.1); forestomach, harderian gland, ovaries, and thyroid < 1 (range, 0.033-0.45)]. Chemicals causing cancer through other modes of action indicate some increased susceptibility from postnatal exposure (geometric mean ratio is 3.4 for lifetime exposure, 2.2 for repeat exposure). Early exposures to compounds with endocrine activity sometimes produce different tumors after exposures at different ages. These analyses suggest increased susceptibility to cancer from early-life exposure, particularly for chemicals acting through a mutagenic mode of action.

2. Argonne Researchers Create New Diamond-Nanotube Composite Material

DATE 2005

SOURCE Argonne National Laboratory

ABSTRACT Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have combined the world's hardest known material – diamond – with the world's strongest structural form – carbon nanotubes. This new process for “growing” diamond and carbon nanotubes together opens the way for its use in a number of energy-related applications. The technique is the first successful synthesis of a diamond-nanotube nanocomposite, which means for the first time this specialized material has been produced at the nanometer size – one-millionth of a millimeter, or thousands of times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. The result established for the first time a process for making these materials a reality, setting the stage for several fundamental advances in the field of nanostructured carbon materials. The resulting material has potential for use in low-friction, wear-resistant coatings, catalyst supports for fuel cells, high-voltage electronics, low-power, high-bandwidth radio frequency microelectromechanical/nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), thermionic energy generation, low-energy consumption flat panel displays and hydrogen storage.

3. EPA Unions Call for Nationwide Moratorium on Fluoridation

DATE 2005

SOURCE NTEU CHAPTER 280

ABSTRACT Eleven EPA employee unions representing over 7000 environmental and public health professionals of the Civil Service have called for a moratorium on drinking water fluoridation programs across the country, and have asked EPA management to recognize fluoride as posing a serious risk of causing cancer in people. The unions acted following revelations of an apparent cover-up of evidence from Harvard School of Dental Medicine linking fluoridation with elevated risk of a fatal bone cancer in young boys. The unions sent letters to key Congressional committees asking Congress to legislate a moratorium pending a review of all the science on the risks and benefits of fluoridation. The letters cited the weight of evidence supporting a classification of fluoride as a likely human carcinogen, which includes other epidemiology results similar to those in the Harvard study, animal studies, and biological reasons why fluoride can reasonably be expected to cause the bone cancer – osteosarcoma – seen in young boys and test animals. The unions also pointed out recent work by Richard Maas of the Environmental Quality Institute, University of North Carolina that links increases in lead levels in drinking water systems to use of silicofluoride fluoridating agents with chloramines disinfectant.

4. Numerous Federal Activities Complement

U.S.

Business's Global Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts

DATE 2005

SOURCE Government Accountability Office (GAO)

ABSTRACT The trend toward globalization has intensified the debate about the proper role of business and government in global “corporate social responsibility” (CSR),which involves business efforts to address the social and environmental concerns associated with business operations. The growth in global trade and the dramatic increase in foreign direct investment in developing countries raise questions regarding CSR- related issues such as labor, environment, and human rights. U.S. firms with operations in many countries employ millions of foreign workers and conduct a range of CSR activities to address these issues. However, there is controversy as to the proper government role. GAO describes (1) federal agency policies and programs relating to global CSR and (2) different perspectives regarding the appropriate U.S. government role and views on the impact of current federal activities on corporate global CSR efforts.

5. Optimizing Cleaning Energy in Batch and Inline Spraying Systems

AUTHOR Stach, Steve; Bixenman, Mike

SOURCE Global SMT & Packaging, v5 n6, June/July 2005, pp10-16

ABSTRACT The benefit of well defined, controlled precision cleaning processes improves manufacturing efficiencies and increases product yields. An optimized cleaning process is one where the cleaning agent effectively removes the contaminant of the day, as well as those foreseen on your corporate technology roadmap. In addition, in an optimized process, the cleaning equipemnt and chemistries must also be integrated. The hardware is responsible for delivering the cleaning agent, as well as providing some mechanism for control and re-use of spent solvent or rinse water after processing. After careful consideration, the net result is an environmentally safe cleaning system that provides quality product without contingent liabilities.

6. The introduction of MMT in South Africa: uncertainties associated with implementing the precautionary approach and the precautionary principle

AUTHOR Hanks, Jonathon

DATE 2004

SOURCE United Nations Environment Programme

ABSTRACT Sasol, a multinational petrochemical company based in South Africa, undertook to implement what can be seen as a precautionary approach when it introduced the fuel additive MMT as an alternative to lead in petrol. This approach included assessing alternative options, entering into dialogue with external stakeholders, and undertaking ongoing research and monitoring. While companies like Sasol that have signed on to the Global Compact are committed to implementing a precautionary approach, this article concludes by suggesting that the full implications of such a commitment (even if it is not as ambitious as commitment to the precautionary principle) may not have been sufficiently appreciated by the corporate community.

7. Groups Say EPA's Use of Rodent Studies is 'Junk Science'

AUTHOR Sissell, Kara

SOURCE Chemical Week, v167 n28, August 24/31, 2005 p12

ABSTRACT The American Council on Science an Health (ACSH) and the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF), both of which receive some funding from industry, have petitioned EPA to stop using rodent studies as a basis for determining whether a chemical is a "likely" human carcinogen. The petition says that EPA's use of rodent studies to classify carcinogens violates the Data Quality Act (DQA), which requires that information disseminated by federal agencies be objective, transparent, and reproducible. EPA recently adopted guidelines for agency staff to use when determining whether a substance is a "known" human carcinogen or a "likely" human carcinogen. Of central concern to WLF and ACSH is that EPA officials are instructed to classify a substance as a likely human carcinogen if rodent health studies indicate a substance causes cancer.

8. Inexpensive oxidation catalyst could reduce diesel emissions

DATE 2005

SOURCE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

ABSTRACT It’s not a new material, but a new application of silver hollandite could make a big impact in diesel emissions control. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed an inexpensive method of synthesizing nano-sized silver hollandite and have found the material has unique catalytic properties that can completely oxidize nitrogens of oxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. These chemical reactions caused by the silver hollandite are key to reducing pollutants in diesel engine emissions. PNNL researchers have also discovered that silver hollandite is an excellent low-temperature sulfur oxides absorbent. Unlike most oxidation catalysts, which can be easily poisoned by sulfur oxides, silver hollandite maintains its catalytic activity even while it ages by absorbing sulfur oxides.

9. Environmental life-cycle impacts of CRT and LCD desktop computer displays

AUTHOR Socolof, Maria Leet; Overly, Jonathan G.; Geibig, Jack R.

SOURCE Journal of Cleaner Production, v13 n13-14, November-December 2005, pp1281-1294

ABSTRACT Final impact results from an industry-wide environmental life-cycle assessment of cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitors are presented for 20 environmental impact categories. Considering the entire life cycle of each monitor, water eutrophication and aquatic ecotoxicity impacts for the baseline analysis were greater for the LCD while all other impact categories (e.g., resource use, energy, ozone depletion, landfill space use, human health toxicity) were greater for the CRT. Energy inputs from CRT glass manufacturing, for which there was some uncertainty in the data, drive many of the CRT impacts. Modifying the glass energy data based on comparison to secondary data resulted in nine of the 20 impact categories having greater relative life-cycle impacts for the LCD than the CRT. When comparing the manufacturing stages of each monitor type in the baseline scenario, the LCD has greater relative burdens on the environment in eight categories. Energy, global warming, and human health toxicity impacts are also presented in greater detail, showing contributions from each life-cycle stage.

10. DuPont Electronic Technologies: Expanding a Position in IC Materials

AUTHOR MacDonald, Veronica

SOURCE Chemical Week, v167 n29, September 7, 2005, pp29-31

ABSTRACT DuPont Electronic Technologies (Research Triangle Park, NC), the company’s $1.2-billion/year electronic materials business, is looking for ways to expand its leading position in materials used to fabricate integrated circuits (ICs) as well as their connections to each other, says David Miller, v.p. and general manager. The growing complexity of ICs create opportunities for DuPont, especially with the increased and “specialized” contact between ICs and packaging circuits, which were previously limited to wire bonds, Miller says. “The shift in technology, interactions, and complexity is really the source of our opportunity.” Electronic Technologies is the second-largest part of DuPont’s $3.3-billion/year Electronic & Communications Technologies business, which also includes Displays; Imaging Technologies; and Fluoroproducts. Electronic Technologies comprises seven businesses that fall under four broad categories: high-performance materials, microcircuit materials, printed-circuit materials, and semiconductor-fabrication materials. DuPont ranks second in the global electronic materials market, behind Shin-Etsu Chemical, says Kevin McCarthy, an analyst with Banc of America Securities (New York). The business aims to steadily introduce a series of new products, rather than a single blockbuster. “Electronic opportunities are not about the next billion-dollar business,” Miller says. “They are about the next series of $80 million-$250 million opportunities.” Ideas will mainly be generated within DuPont, with acquisitions as a low priority. Any M&A would be targeted at “bolt-on” materials, technologies, or products that fit within the existing business, he says. “We look at M&A as a means to an end, to fill gaps,” he adds. “We first look at R&D, then licensing, technology, alliances, and joint ventures, and then acquisitions.”

You are welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more information on any of these resources. Also, please tell us what topics you are particularly interested in monitoring, and who else should see GREENLIST. An online search of the TURI Library catalog can be done at http://greenlist.turi.org/ for greater topic coverage.

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Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 09/16/2005